Lowder to retire from day job

Influential Auburn trustee Bobby Lowder will retire from Colonial BancGroup—the company he founded—the bank announced Thursday.

He will remain a member of the Auburn Board of Trustees. His second term as the District 2 representative on the AU board will complete April 2011.

Here’s the full story from the fine news folks at the Opelika-Auburn News.

Colonial BancGroup, Inc. founder and Auburn University trustee Bobby Lowder will retire from the company after completion of a $300 million equity deal with Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp and other investors, according to a release from the company Thursday.

“He decided it’s time to retire,” Lisa Free, director of investor relations, said. “It’s his decision to go ahead and retire.”

Lowder, who founded the company in 1981, will continue to serve as chairman, director, CEO and president of the company and its subsidiary Colonial Bank until the deal is completed or a replacement is appointed, the release states.

The capital infusion deal needs bank regulatory approval, something regulators haven’t given a time frame for, Free said.

Lowder, the District 2 representative on the AU board, did not return phone calls for comment Thursday.

Lowder, first appointed to the board in 1983, will complete his second term in April 2011.

(Photo credit: Cliff Williams)